On the first day of the war, Putin said that “anyone who tries to interfere with us, let alone create threats to our country and people, must know that the Russian response will be immediate and will lead to consequences you have never seen in history,” as AP reminds.
During the two and a half years of fighting, the West has provided Ukraine with billions of dollars in advanced weaponry, some of which has hit Russian territory. While there have been more Kremlin threats – including the deployment of nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Belarus, just across the border from Ukraine – so far, this has remained just a blunt message.
In response to international news agencies’ questions in June, Putin pointed to Russia’s so-called nuclear doctrine. “Look at what it says there,” he said at a session in St.
Petersburg. “If someone’s actions threaten our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we consider it possible to use all means at our disposal. Now, Russian hawks are urging him to change the doctrine to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, and Putin says the document could be amended to account for the evolving global situation.
Officially known as the “Basic Principles of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence,” this document was signed by Putin in 2020 and outlines when Russia might resort to its atomic arsenal, the largest in the world.
It describes nuclear weapons as a “deterrent” with the note that their use is an “extreme and forced measure.”
It states that Russia “takes all necessary measures to reduce the nuclear threat and prevent the escalation of interstate relations that could lead to military conflicts, including nuclear ones.” The document notes that “nuclear deterrence aims to make a potential adversary understand the inevitability of retaliation in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation and/or its allies.”
